The optical fiber head properly controls a ray of light exiting from or being incident on a leading end surface of the optical fiber using a lens. In the optical fiber head, the leading end portion of the optical fiber and the lens are held by a case body, so that the leading end portion of the optical fiber and a rear end surface of the lens are disposed so as to be opposed to each other.
Conventionally, the lens is generally fixed to the case body by press-fitting or bonding. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-160668 discloses the optical fiber head in which the lens is fixed to the case body by the press-fitting.
However, in the case that the lens is fixed to the case body by the press-fitting, it is necessary to strictly manage dimensional accuracy of the lens or the case body, and unfortunately production cost increases. Additionally, in the case that the lens is fixed to the case body by the press-fitting, a stress is applied to an outer circumferential surface, which serves as a reflection surface, of the lens, and there is a risk of having no small adverse effect on an optical property.
On the other hand, in the case that the lens is fixed to the case body by the bonding, it is necessary to perform work to apply and cure a bonding agent, which results in a problem in that assembly work becomes troublesome to increase the production cost. In order to sufficiently ensure a holding force of the case body to the lens, it is necessary to strictly manage an application amount or a curing condition of the bonding agent, which also increases the production cost.